Electronic Labyrinth THX 1138 4EB

The film departments of UCLA and Southern California University had an annual film competition for students from both schools at a time when they and New York University were about the only schools in the country offering a degree in cinema. In 1967, I attended the showing at UCLA's Royce Hall, and George Lucas's THX-1138 was a standout work among many very good ones. Not only was it the audience's favorite, but the judges awarded it best picture. Lucas was called to the podium to accept his award. He seemed nervous and shy at the microphone, but then startled as he was interrupted at the microphone, apparently a surprise to all on stage, by a lawyer from Warner Brothers who announced that Warners was offering whoever won the competition the opportunity to turn it into a feature. That was of course George. It seemed an eternity while he stood speechless, mouth open. Warners already had the young Francis Ford Coppola under contract, so they assigned him as producer to George. I then saw the resulting feature "THX 1138" in 1971 at a theater in Hollywood. It was not great commercial success, but as we all know, the success of the George Lucas career is legendary.

Having seen the feature length version first, it's hard not to see this short in light of it. The connection between the two is strong and obvious. Both have style over story, and the style is intentionally confusing/busy, dystopian and impressive. In my review of the feature length movie, I especially focused on how well picked the locations were, and the same has to be said (though in an understandably lesser degree) for the short.

I'm more forgiving for a weak story in a short movie like this, as it is in no way in focus. You're only meant to put together what few details you are given, and not expected to become (that) emotionally involved in the world it is set in.

Consdering it is a (cheaply made) student film, Lucas does a remarkable job showing of his visual chops, and using the sci-fi genre to point out negative aspects of his own time.

Electronic Labyrinth THX 1138 4EB (1967)

*** (out of 4)

This short film from writer-director George Lucas was certainly the most important one he ever made for a number of reasons. For one, it got some national attention, which also meant critics were aware of his name. For two, it led to him meeting Steven Spielberg and we know what happened from there. And thirdly, the film would eventually be turned into a feature.

The story is pretty simple as it takes place in a futuristic world where a man (Dan Natchsheim) is trying to escape but no matter where he runs someone is monitoring him.

As of me writing this, I actually haven't seen the feature so I have no idea of knowing what Lucas changed or whatever but for the most part this here was pretty interesting. I thought the highlight was clearly the visuals since Lucas didn't have too much money to work with yet you still got the impression that you were watching something set in the future. The "story" was a bit all over the map but I guess that was to be somewhat expected and I'm sure it was expanded for the feature.

George Lucas developed this film during his days in film school. It impressed his teachers and eventually gave him the courage to make "THX 1138," a full-length spin-off which was his theatrical debut and featured the talents of Robert Duvall and Donald Pleasence.

This was the basis for that spin-off, which is much shorter and doesn't feature any of the complicated themes of the semi-remake. Personally I feel the remake is far superior because of its advanced storytelling, visuals, acting, and love story, but that's just me (and I have a feeling most people probably like the remake better, too, but...).

The point remains that without this, George Lucas might never have impressed anyone. He might never have made "THX 1138." He might never have made "American Graffiti," and there would be no "Star Wars" because he wouldn't have convinced anyone to lend him the money.

There would be no THX sound on DVDs. There would be no ILM. There would be no Indiana Jones, no Luke Skywalker, nothing.

Hard to imagine, isn't it? All because of one small 15-minute, cheaply-produced short film...

This is found on the 2-Disc George Lucas Director's Cut release of THX 1138 that came out in 2004. His student film. You're probably more familiar with the remake that he made(and everyone who's watched any of his work may have seen the four numbers appear somewhere, and he used the prefix as the title of his sound-system). This and especially the theatrical version of '71 had an ambivalent effect on his career in the field; the studio had no idea how to sell the latter, and it led to the downfall of the original dream of what American Zoetrope was. It also proved that he could make something otherworldly and unique, and he might not have made Star Wars(or it could have been less than it was) if not. This is very experimental, and its visual side is compelling and interesting. The sound is creative(given the constraints), and editing is skillful. In 15 short minutes, this manages to convey many of the themes he would explore to a greater extent in the feature-length quite subtly and without anything feeling staged. The acting is satisfactory. There is a bit of disturbing content in this. I recommend it to any fan of cinema that takes chances. 7/10